Damaged!: A Walker Brothers Novel: (The Walker Brothers Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  PROLOGUE Dane

  CHAPTER 1 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 2 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 3 Dane

  CHAPTER 4 Dane

  CHAPTER 5 Trace

  CHAPTER 6 Dane

  CHAPTER 7 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 8 Dane

  CHAPTER 9 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 10 Dane

  CHAPTER 11 Dane

  CHAPTER 12 Dane

  CHAPTER 13 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 14 Dane

  CHAPTER 15 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 16 Dane

  CHAPTER 17 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 18 Dane

  CHAPTER 19 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 20 Dane

  CHAPTER 21 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 22 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 23 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 24 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 25 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 26 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 27 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 28 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 29 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 30 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 31 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 32 Dane

  CHAPTER 33 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 34 Dane

  CHAPTER 35 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 36 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 37 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 38 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 39 Dane

  CHAPTER 40 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 41 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 42 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 43 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 44 Dane

  CHAPTER 45 Kenzie

  EPILOGUE Kenzie

  Special Preview of Xander Sinclair’s Book, The Billionaire’s Secrets

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X1FC1D8

  Damaged!

  A Walker Brothers Novel

  Copyright 2017 by J.S. Scott

  All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission.

  Cover Design by Ashley Michel/AM Creations

  ISBN: 978-1-946660-41-1 (E-Book)

  ISBN: 978-1-946660-42-8 (Paperback)

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE Dane

  CHAPTER 1 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 2 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 3 Dane

  CHAPTER 4 Dane

  CHAPTER 5 Trace

  CHAPTER 6 Dane

  CHAPTER 7 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 8 Dane

  CHAPTER 9 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 10 Dane

  CHAPTER 11 Dane

  CHAPTER 12 Dane

  CHAPTER 13 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 14 Dane

  CHAPTER 15 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 16 Dane

  CHAPTER 17 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 18 Dane

  CHAPTER 19 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 20 Dane

  CHAPTER 21 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 22 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 23 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 24 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 25 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 26 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 27 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 28 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 29 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 30 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 31 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 32 Dane

  CHAPTER 33 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 34 Dane

  CHAPTER 35 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 36 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 37 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 38 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 39 Dane

  CHAPTER 40 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 41 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 42 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 43 Kenzie

  CHAPTER 44 Dane

  CHAPTER 45 Kenzie

  EPILOGUE Kenzie

  Special Preview of Xander Sinclair’s Book, The Billionaire’s Secrets

  PROLOGUE

  Dane

  EIGHT YEARS AGO…

  There was nothing I wanted more than to just be left alone.

  I listened to the rain hitting the roof of the small shack that was the only existing structure on my new private island. As soon as I’d been discharged from the hospital, and saw the reactions to my altered appearance, all I needed was just to get away from the horrified glances I’d gotten every time I stepped out my door.

  I looked like a monster.

  I felt like a monster.

  So, I was a monster, at least to myself.

  My two brothers even had a hard time handling my appearance now. Neither of them said what they were thinking, but I could feel the awkwardness between the three of us. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.

  Hell, I was only eighteen years old, and my entire life had just gone up in smoke.

  Literally.

  I couldn’t remember much of the plane crash that had killed my dad and his new wife, but I was feeling the effects of it now. My whole damn body ached from the newly healed burns and other injuries I’d sustained from the accident.

  My brothers, Trace and Sebastian, kept telling me I was lucky to be alive. I didn’t feel like I’d been somehow blessed to survive the horrific plane crash. There had been times in the last several months when I wished I’d just died with my father. Recovery had been touch and go, and the pain had been so bad that I wasn’t sure I’d live through it, even with medications.

  “I can live alone,” I mumbled to myself. I sat up in the small bed, and was met with nothing but darkness.

  It seemed strange to be completely solo. I’d spent my life surrounded by family and friends. To be suddenly stuck on a private island with not another soul around was both a relief and painful at the same time.

  I flopped back onto my pillow, trying to tell myself that I’d fix up the island, make it my own. It wouldn’t be so bad after I was able to get a real residence here.

  The first thing I was going to do was build a decent house so I could sleep in a comfortable damn bed.

  My brothers knew very little about what I was up to, and I didn’t feel the need to inform them that the island…well…it needed some work.

  A house.

  Indoor plumbing.

  An airport.

  Roads.

  Some kind of studio so I could continue to work on my art.

  I was disappointed that I’d never be able to attend a university or college. I looked so damn bad that I couldn’t inflict my appearance on anyone right now. Before the accident, I’d been accepted to one of the best art programs in the world. I couldn’t do it now. There was no way I could handle the piteous expressions of the other students on campus every time I tried to walk from class to class.

  Maybe someday, my face wouldn’t look so mangled, and my body would regain its strength. But right now, I was broken, and I knew it.

  Mind.

  Body.

  And soul.

  At this point, I wasn’t quite sure which was suffering the most. All of the pain seemed rolled in together until I was just one big mass of agony.

  I’d purchased the expensive island in the Bahamas as a place to recuperate and try to get my head back together. There would be more surgeries to try to fix some of the cosmetic issues, but in the meantime, I’d have a place to escape from other people.

  Yeah, I’m running away.

  Maybe I was also trying to outrun myself. I wasn’t sure. My head was all fucked up.

  I’ll be okay. I just need some time.

  Unfortunately, I’d
found out just how many real friends I had after the accident. The only ones who had genuinely been there for me were my brothers. When the expensive parties stopped, and I needed my buddies, there was nobody who was interested in babysitting an invalid who barely had enough strength to walk across a room.

  “I’m pathetic,” I grumbled, wishing that I hadn’t needed to leave Sebastian and Trace. I missed them, but they were both involved in their own lives, and I could tell they just wanted to put all this behind them. Unfortunately, the accident wasn’t over for me. In fact, I felt like my hell was just beginning.

  Yeah, I’d told my brothers that I’d be fine.

  Problem was, I actually wasn’t fine.

  I absolutely wasn’t doing well at all.

  However, I was healed, even though the end result of the accident wasn’t pretty.

  I’d wanted my brothers to go on with their lives. They’d spent months worrying about me, dealing with grief over my dad’s death, and it was time for them to concentrate on rebuilding their lives without our father. Trace was busy trying to run our father’s multi-billion-dollar corporation, and Sebastian was going back to his engineering studies.

  And me? I was going to hide out on my new island for a while to figure out how to handle my life now that it wasn’t as charmed as it used to be. I was still licking my wounds. Well, not literally, but figuratively. I was behind my brothers on mourning my dad since I’d had a month or two when I hadn’t known the whole truth. And then, I’d been so sick that I couldn’t deal with it.

  I guess I’d never really known how good I had it until everything fell apart.

  “Suck it up, Walker,” I said morosely into the dark room.

  I turned onto my side, cursing at the lumpy mattress I was resting on.

  Tomorrow, my first priority would be to get a comfortable bed delivered to the island so I could get a decent night’s sleep.

  The wind started to howl, and I hoped to hell I wasn’t in for a nasty tropical storm. I hadn’t checked the weather, and I was in a hurricane zone.

  It was only my second day on the island, and I was already tired of the quiet and the isolation.

  Be careful what you wish for, dumbass!

  Earlier in the day, I’d wanted noise.

  Unfortunately, I was getting exactly what I’d asked for, but not at all in the way I’d hoped it would happen.

  I felt so damn lonely. The sudden isolation on the island was pretty extreme.

  I wasn’t used to being completely without somebody to talk to about my problems. My mom had died years ago, but my dad had always been there for me when I was growing up. I’d never missed having a mother because he’d been such a great father. If I had problems, he’d immediately want to discuss them and help me solve them.

  Jesus! I wanted him back so damn bad that it physically hurt, my chest aching so badly that I almost couldn’t stand it. Maybe I couldn’t remember the crash, but I still mourned the loss of my father, the only parent I’d ever known.

  How in the hell was I supposed to live without him?

  I guessed that I’d work through it, just like my brothers. Right now, I wasn’t ready to accept the fact that I’d never see my dad again, but I knew I’d have to eventually come to terms with the fact that he was gone.

  My heart clenched, and I put a hand over the left side of my chest, trying to somehow fill the profound emptiness, and the painful ache that was suddenly trying to take me over.

  “I miss you, Dad,” I said in a hopeless tone.

  Unfortunately, nobody answered.

  Reality was beginning to sink in. The numbness of denial was starting to go away.

  Dammit! I wanted my denial back because it hurt too damn bad to think about being without my dad.

  I was on my own to handle my shit all by myself.

  I’ll be fine alone. I’ll get used to it.

  I closed my eyes, but it was a long time before I finally fell into a troubled, restless sleep.

  CHAPTER 1

  Kenzie

  THE PRESENT…

  I’d only flown in an airplane twice in my entire life. Once to Los Angeles from Boston when I was eighteen years old. The second time I was on my way back home to the East Coast after all of my dreams had been shattered a couple of weeks later.

  I could still remember the long coast-to-coast flight, being crammed into the cheapest economy seat I could find. Both directions had been uncomfortable, and I was happy that I’d never needed to fly again.

  Until today.

  Having been dirt poor all my life, nothing could have prepared me for my current flight to the Bahamas in Trace Walker’s private jet. I’d set out late this morning for my new job opportunity. Now, it was almost dinnertime, and I knew we had to be getting close to Dane Walker’s private island in the Bahamas.

  I almost hated to see the flight end, even though I’d been in the air for over five hours. There was any number of things to occupy myself on the luxurious plane. I could even go take a nap in the bedroom of the jet, but I was too nervous to even consider that option. I’d eaten a gourmet lunch, and then watched a movie, so the time on board the jet had flown by.

  Now that we were getting close to the Bahamas, I was getting nervous.

  “Can you fasten your seatbelt, Ms. Jordan?” The friendly flight attendant’s request snapped me out of my thoughts.

  “Of course,” I replied as I fumbled with my seatbelt. “Are we landing?”

  The pretty, thin brunette smiled at me. “We’re descending. We’ll be on the island shortly.”

  I sat up straight in the comfortable leather seat and snapped my seatbelt on. “Thank you for being so nice to me,” I mumbled, not sure quite what to say to the woman who’d made sure I had every available comfort on my flight.

  “It’s my job,” she answered. “But it’s been a pleasure to serve you on this flight.”

  “I appreciate it,” I told her. “I’ve never been on a private jet.”

  I was pretty sure she already knew that. I’d been gawking at the interior of the aircraft like it was some kind of mirage in the desert from the moment I’d boarded.

  “I hope you enjoyed the experience,” she commented politely.

  “It was amazing,” I replied honestly. “I just hope Mr. Walker likes me.”

  My new job as billionaire Dane Walker’s assistant on a private island in the Bahamas was a dream job. Not only was I being paid a small fortune in comparison to my previous jobs, but I was going to be working with an amazingly talented artist. During my short employment as a receptionist at a New York art gallery, I’d gotten to view one of his pieces in person. Not that it had stayed on display for long. It had sold for an outrageous price, and I’d mourned the loss of the beautiful work of art the moment it had been removed from the wall. I’d admired Dane Walker’s work for a long time, and I’d really hated to see the canvas go off exhibit so soon.

  “You’ll be fine,” she assured me. “I haven’t met Dane Walker personally, but his brothers are both very good men.”

  Maybe she had to say that because Trace Walker was her boss, but I had a feeling she meant what she said. “I haven’t met him either. I haven’t met any of the Walker brothers in person,” I confessed.

  It had been a long flight, and I’d had plenty of time to chat with Mary, my accommodating flight attendant, during the flight. I’d told her that I was going to be a new employee to Dane Walker, and that I was nervous about whether or not we’d get along.

  “Relax,” she said in a soothing voice. “I’m sure he’ll be as nice as his brothers.”

  I hoped she was right. “It just seems strange that he lives on an island all alone. He has to get lonely. And why would he want to be away from his brothers? From what I can gather, they’re the only family he has.”

  I’d been reading about the effe
cts of prolonged isolation, and they weren’t good. If Dane Walker had been mostly alone for eight years, he could be completely nuts.

  Mary shrugged. “I’m not certain, but he’s an artist. Maybe he’s just a little… eccentric.”

  That was probably a tactful way of saying he was a little—or a lot—crazy.

  I glanced out the window, noticing that we had gone down in altitude fairly quickly.

  “Maybe,” I agreed in a noncommittal tone. I wasn’t certain exactly what I’d find on the island, but I was hoping for the best.

  “You could travel to the populated islands on your time off,” she suggested. “It’s beautiful here.”

  I nodded politely, knowing I wasn’t doing much of anything until I got paid. I had exactly five bucks in my purse. I’d been just that close to going broke in New York City after I’d lost my receptionist job because my boss had been a total dick. I’d still worked in a convenience store part-time, but living in New York was pricey, and there had been no way I could afford my part of the rent on the apartment I’d shared with several other women.

  Trace Walker’s job offer to work for his brother had come completely out-of-the-blue, and it couldn’t have been offered at a better time. It had saved my ass from homelessness.

  My best friend, Paige, had gotten engaged to Sebastian Walker, the middle billionaire Walker brother. After graduating from Harvard Law, she’d moved to Denver to work for Walker Enterprises. I hadn’t seen her since I’d left our apartment in Cambridge to move to New York City. I’d never even had the chance to tell her that I’d lost my job in the gallery, so she’d never known quite how bad things had gotten for me.

  Honestly, I hadn’t wanted to tell Paige that I’d lost my job. She was so happy, and she deserved every moment of joy she could get. The last thing I’d wanted was to bring back any gloom and doom to her life.

  Unfortunately, everything in my life sucked, and I was a total downer.

  I figured I’d get by somehow. I always had. I’d been alone most of my life, and I had always managed to survive.

  However, I was lucky that Trace and Sebastian had called me to offer employment. If they hadn’t, things had been about to get really bad. Like, homeless bad.

  Finally, I answered the brunette beside my seat, “I want to see everything. I haven’t really been able to travel.”

  I didn’t count running as fast as I could to another town as traveling, but I’d done some pretty quick relocations in my life. I’d had no choice.